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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Welcome back, Sarah. How
did you come up with the idea for this story?

The idea for the Wings of the Nightingale series came about
when I was researching nursing in World War II and read about the flight
nurses. Their stories were so fascinating and exciting, and I needed a series
to tell them all. In Perfect Time is the final novel in the series, but it stands
alone. Since the nurses flew from airfield to airfield, I imagined a nurse who
had a boyfriend in every airport.

About that same time, I was listening to a family from our
church that sings a cappella. Every single member of that family has an
exceptional singing voice. Since I have a horrible singing voice, I imagined
what it would be like to be born into a family like that. Now, the family from
my church is so loving, it wouldn’t matter. But what if the family saw a lovely
singing voice as a sign of God’s blessing? What if they judged this little tone-deaf
girl? Treated her like an unrepentant sinner? Hmm. So my wounded, tone-deaf
girl grew into a bold and flirtatious nurse. I couldn’t wait to tell her story
and lead her to healing and joy.

Sounds wonderful,
Sarah. I have an aunt who was a US
army nurse in Germany
during World War II. She’s shared many memories and pictures with me. Many
times, people (and other authors) think you have it made with so many books
published. What is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in
your career?

Time. Being a published author is a full-time plus job.
Working from home is a challenge with kids in and out, carpooling, and doing
all the mom/wife stuff. At times, I long for an office where I could work from
nine to five, then come home and leave work behind. But that doesn’t happen.
With the internet, it’s go, go, go. I love writing, but I still struggle to
manage my time.

Tell us about the
featured book.

World War II flight nurse Lt. Kay Jobson collects hearts
wherever she flies, but C-47 pilot Lt. Roger Cooper seems immune to her charms.
Still, as they cross the skies
between Italy and southern France,
evacuating the wounded and delivering paratroopers and supplies, every beat of
their hearts draws them closer. Can they confront the fears and
misunderstandings of the past in order to take hold of the future?

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Over the Mediterranean

March 25, 1944

For Lt. Kay Jobson, flight nursing meant more than physical
care. It meant reconnecting a broken soldier with the shards of his humanity.

Kay assessed her planeload of patients en route from Italy to Tunisia. A restless lot,
downhearted. That wouldn’t do.

She headed to the front of the C-47 cargo plane, past six
men confined to litters and eleven in seats along the sides of the fuselage.
The soldiers had been wounded on the battered beachhead at Anzio
or in one of the many bloody failed attempts to take Cassino. “Say, fellows, what do you think
about the ’44 baseball season? Starts soon, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.” Seated to her left, Sergeant Logan gave her
a don’t-worry-your-pretty-little-head look.

She knelt beside the patient and took his wrist to measure
his pulse. What was more fun—showing off what lay inside her pretty little head
or shocking people? “Do you think the Cardinals can come back from their World
Series loss?”

Kay rolled her eyes. “Hal Newhouser might be a great
pitcher, but the Cards have Stan Musial, and he batted .357 last season. Mark
my words, they’ll take the whole shebang this year.”

Logan’s
mouth opened and closed around nonexistent words.

Kay tapped him under the chin. “I don’t just follow the
game, I play it. If I weren’t a nurse, I’d be the star of one of those girls’
teams.”

“Well, I’ll be.”

Swishing her hair over her shoulder, Kay turned to the rest
of the patients. “So, boys, who do you like this year?”

Over the roar of the twin engines, the men called out their
favorite teams and players and stats, and Kay smiled, her goal accomplished.

She loved everything about this job—the glamour of flight,
the challenge of nursing, and the game of lifting spirits. Now she just needed
to sweet-talk chief nurse Lt. Cora Lambert into recommending her for the Army
Air Forces’ chief nurse training program.

If only she could have an in-flight emergency to highlight
her skills.

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I have (and read) the first two books in this series and enjoyed them very much. In Perfect Time is on my wish list so it would be wonderful to win it here. Thanks for the chance to win the book and for the interview with Sarah.